The Newcomers
by WritingWoman
Summary: This is what happens after TAL, the first story in the series! Assassins, Bounty Hunters, crushed ramen... and laughter! [blood, that too]
1. An Assassin

_**An Assassin**_

A shadow moved silently in the trees, watching the people pass below. The eyes settled on a face. Listening, the shadow heard the face's name.

"Lets have some fun, Inuyasha." The shadow waited.

"NO, Kagome. We've got to get to camp and make some raman." Inuyasha pointed to the two bags full of instant raman.

A man came running down the road, lugging a heavy load that included his wife, children, horse, and all his belongings, all on his back. He was obviously so terrified the weight meant nothing to him.

**BANG!** He ran straight into Kagome. Getting up, he tried to run again. Shifting everything to one arm, Inuyasha caught the man by the scruff of his neck.

"What's wrong with you?" asked an angry Kagome, as she got up and grabbed the now crushed raman.

"They've seen her! She's near the town!" He was now frantically trying to escape from the half breeds grip. "Run for your very lives!"

"Who the hell are you running from?" Asked Kagome (angrier than any time she had ever 'sit'ed Inuyasha).

The woman atop the horse (that the man was still carrying) answered her, sweating and speaking fast. "Black Lullaby! She's been seen... How can you laugh!" She yelled at Inuyasha. "Do you not know who she is!"

"No." Said the ever arrogant Inuyasha. "Why should I be afraid of a woman with 'Lullaby' in her name?" He laughed again.

"Not a woman but a demon! She's an assassin!" The man was yelling, half crazy with fear. "Her song is poison! The last thing you will ever hear!"

"Hence the name 'Black' Lullaby." Said a teen cooly, from her perch on the horse.

"Please, please, let me go!" The man was weeping. "She'll be after me." Inuyasha released him and the man disappeared.

"Shame."a voice came from the trees. "If there's a price on his head, moving won't stop him from being killed. Merely prolong his life expectancy a few days."

"Inuyasha, there is a shard nearby." A shadow dropped from a tree. Slowly, confidently, the shadow walked into a beam of light and could now be clearly seen as a woman.

Inuyasha growled at her. She had slit-pupil eyes the color of molten amber with emerald flakes scattered over them, a long, slender tail wrapped around her arm three times, claws on her hands, and long, delicate ears. She was a cat demon. When her red tipped black hair moved, Kagome saw six slender red marks on her face. A demon assassin, one with a jewel shard!

"I am the Black Lullaby." She hissed at Inuyasha, than sang an eerily compelling melody that only he could hear. Inuyasha's eyes glazed over, as he dropped his two bags of instant raman. He began to do what looked like a robo can-can. Inuyasha was sweating as he fought Black Lullaby's control, all the while crushing his favorite food to tiny pieces.

Black Lullaby turned to Kagome. Another simple little song, and Kagome was singing the can-can for Inuyasha, who had vainly tried to grabbed Miroku, in his attempt to stop. "Sing faster, Kagome." said the cat demon. Kagome sang faster. Faster and faster she sang, faster and faster Inuyasha danced, dragging the poor monk after him. Shippo broke down in giggles. For the first time, she noticed him.

"Do you think this is funny?" Totally unafraid, he nodded"Good. While they're busy, would you mind helping me with something?"

"Sure." Tears of laughter rolled down his face. "I like you."

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_Inuyasha- "What is that? I'M CRUSHING THE RAMAN!"_

_W.W. + B.B.- "Oops! (Sarcastically) We didn't **mean** to write it like that."_

_Inuyasha - "Yes you did!" (Glare, Glare)_

_Shippo - "That was funny!" (Starts to laugh.)_

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"What do you need?" Asked Shippo.

"I need to find some one." Black Lullaby told Shippo.

"Who?" Shippo wiped his face.

"A man by the name of..." she was cut off as he shifted. In fact, she was so shocked that Kagome stopped singing and Inuyasha stopped dancing. Inuyasha fell to the ground, crying.

"My precious raman." he moaned. He glared at Black Lullaby. "Look what you made me do!"

"Don't yell at her Inuyasha." Kagome told him. "Shippo likes her." Inuyasha thumped Shippo on the head twice. Black Lullaby charged at him, clearly intending to kill him, when Kagome yelled "Sit, Inuyasha!" Shippo side stepped as Inuyasha made a whole in the ground with his face.

Black Lullaby smirked. 'That's a neat trick.' she thought. 'I'll have to figure out how that works.' Everyone else laughed openly.

"What'd you do **that** for, Kagome." Inuyasha yelled after spitting all the dirt out of his mouth.

"You were being a jerk, Inuyasha, and needed to be punished." She started to walk away. Looking over her shoulder, she yelled "Pick up the raman, Inuyasha, or I'm won't buy anymore."

Inuyasha yelped and jumped up. Scrambling all over, Inuyasha finally had it all. "May I come with you?" At the sound of Black Lullaby's voice, Inuyasha dropped everything.

"**NO!"** Inuyasha yelled, trying to gather it all up again. "Stupid cat!"

"Sit Inuyasha!" Crash! The raman broke his fall. "Yes, you may."

"**NNNOOO!"** Came a voice from the hole. "My raman! My precious raman!" He cried like a woman at her husbands funeral. "Noo...My...Raman..." He said between sobs. He looked at Kagome. "It's...all...your..fault! Yours...and...that...CATS!"

"Don't blame them, dogface!" Shippo yelled. "You're the one that made Kagome SIT you!"

"But...she...could...have...waited...till...I...was... away... from the raman!" Inuyasha cried. He broke down into tears, yelling and screaming.

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_Inuyasha - "The poor, defenseless raman..." (Weeping)_

_Black - "Shut up, you stupid mutt. You'll get more. Or fish."_

_Shippo - "Who were you looking for?"_

_Black - "Never mind, Shippo. I'll find them."_

_Kagome - "Actually, fish sounds good. We have been eating a lot of raman lately..."_

_Inuyasha - "**HOW DARE YOU BETRAY THE RAMAN!"**_

_Kagome - "SIT!" ('sits' hard)_

_Black - "Man, that's a nice trick. Does it work if any one says it?"_

_Kagome - "No, only me."_

_Black - "Damn."_

_W.W. - "Ok, people, enough talk, its time to get back to the story."_

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They had set up camp for the night, after Inuyasha had finally stopped bawling. Since she had ruined their dinner, Black went fishing. However, she only brought back four fish. She cooked them just right in the coals of the fire, and, once they were done, handed them out. One for her, one for Kagome, one for Shippo, and one for Miroku.

"Where's my fish?" Asked Inuyasha angrily. All that crying had given him an appetite.

"In the stream." He stood and yelled,

"You didn't get me any fish!"

"Nope." Black took a bite out of her fish.

"Why not?"

"Because." Inuyasha stomped over to the far end of the campsite, mumbling something about evil cats, while holding his muttering stomach.

Soon, they all settled around the fire to talk until they felt sleepy. Miroku sat on one side of Black, Shippo on the other, and Kagome straight across. Inuyasha was still in his corner.

"So, 'Black Lullaby'," said Kagome. "Do you have a real name?"

"Yes, I do. Everyone does. Black Lullaby is merely how I'm known."

"But what is it?" Asked Kagome, irritated by the demons round about answer.

"Yeah, what's your name?" Asked the foxling, Shippo. He had already figured out that

Black had a weakness for children. She smiled at him.

"It's Ankhale Suneye. I made it myself. Shortly, it's Ankha."

"Can I call you that?"

"Certainly."

"Kagome, too?"

"I suppose."

"Thanks!"

The talk went on for a while. All asked Ankha questions, and she got in a few of her own, including why Kagome had let her stay. It went smoothly, peacefully, until Miroku opened his big, lecherous mouth.

"Will you bear my child?"

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_B.B.- "Oh Miroku, I wish I could!" _

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He lay sprawled on the ground, a very red hand print on his face, with five small puncture wounds on the tip of each finger mark from the offended cat demons metal claws.

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_Inuyasha - "You have metal claws?"_

_Ankha - "Yes, metal claws where everyone else has fingernails. They can extend to as many inches as I wish beyond my finger tips."_

_Miroku - (Gulp)_

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Ankha stalked off, saying over her shoulder, "I'm done talking." She climbed into a tree and settled down to sleep in the thick branches. Shippo followed.

Kagome shook her head. "You just had to ruin it, Miroku." And went off to bed herself. As soon as his head stopped spinning, Miroku went to his bed roll and slept, gently nursing his wounded face.

"Ankha!" Shippo whispered up into the tree. He couldn't see her well, only her glowing eyes.

"Shippo, you should be asleep."

"Why are you in a tree?"

"I like it up here."

"Can I sleep under it?"

"Of course." Quickly, he fell asleep. So far from the warmth of the fire, though, it wasn't too long before he started shivering. Silently, Ankha climbed out of her tree and laid her traveling cloak upon him. His shivering stopped. She climbed back into the tree and watched the full moon until, finally, she slept.

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Disclaimer: We do not own the show Inuyasha. We're just borrowing the world and characters for a while. Don't worry. We'll give them back.

P.S. I am Writing Woman, and I own Ankhale Suneye. Blond Bitch owns characters later in the story.


	2. Tension Rises

_**Tension Rises**_

When Inuyasha awoke, he had forgotten about Ankha. "Kagome, I had the weirdest nightmare. This cat demon assassin..." He looked over at Shippo, who was still covered in Ankha's cloak. "Damn."

Kagome scowled at Inuyasha. "What's wrong, Inuyasha?" She asked, walking up behind the unsuspecting dog.

"It wasn't a dream." He started to tiptoe to Shippo, obviously going to hit him.

Everyone in camp awoke to Kagome yelling "INUYASHA...SIT BOY!" And a big "Crunch!" was heard as Inuyasha crushed what was left of the raman.

As Inuyasha stood, Kagome said "IN...U...YASHA, you just destroyed the last of the raman. You don't get any more, EVER!"

Inuyasha fell to the ground among his fallen noodles. He rolled himself into a ball as his eyes glazed over and he rocked himself back and forth.

"No more raman...No more raman...No more raman..." Ankha leaped out of her tree.

"What's with him? Is raman really that important to his sanity?"

"No more raman...No more raman...No more raman..."

She looked at him. "I guess that's a yes."

Shippo looked up at her "Did you know that you purr in your sleep?" Ankha's ear tips became a pinkish color. She muttered an affirmative. Shippo crouched by Inuyasha and started to poke him.

"No more raman..." Poke "No more roman..." poke "No more raman" Poke.

Crash!

Sesshomiru came bursting through the trees. "I can't find Loeyla!"

"No more raman..." poke "No more raman..."

"What's with my brother?" Sesshomiru crouched next to Inuyasha and copied Shippo.

"No more raman..." poke, poke "No more raman..." poke, poke.

"What do you mean you can't find Loeyla?" Kagome asked, alarmed. "When did you

lose her?"

"Who is this 'Loeyla'?" Ankha asked. Sesshomiru turned his head to look at her, previously unnoticed. When he turned his face towards her, she could see nine stripes on his face, all colored in, the sign of a retired highest level assassin. Ankha immediately went on the defensive. In he was going to try and kill her, she was going to go down fighting! Sesshomiru just looked amused at her defensiveness.

"Loeyla is my mate." He glared at the assassin, who was still on guard. "The only time you have to worry about me..." His glare deepened. "Is if you come anywhere near to hurting my mate." He released her from his holding spell that she had been struggling to escape, and she looked away, fast. Turning to Kagome, he answered her question. "She left three months after mating season. I don't know where she is. I can't track her."

"Sessho, that was four years ago! Why did you not seek our help earlier?"

Sessho looked at Inuyasha, who was now sucking his thumb while rocking back and forth, taking it out only to repeat his litany. "That is why. You had enough problems with him." He slowly looked back at Kagome. "Now I'm worried, There's a new crop of bounty hunters about!"

"Loeyla should be able to take care of herself ." Soothed Kagome.

"No more raman..." poke.

Ankha couldn't take the noise anymore. Covering her ears, she turned to Shippo, whispering. "Shippo, I'm going into the woods. I'll be at a little river to the direct west of here. If you need me, that's where you'll find me." Shippo nodded to show he heard, never leaving off his poking. Quietly, she left. She hated crowds, and it had become too many people to spend that much time around.

Shortly after Ankha left there was a sound of a person walking through the trees. When the sound stopped, Inuyasha said "No more ra..." he lifted his nose to the air, thumb still in his mouth. (Sniff, sniff) The glaze left his eyes, his thumb left his mouth. The half breed ran into the woods.

"Hey! HEY! Come back here with my bag!" A voice shouted.

Inuyasha came from the woods with a bag almost as big as Kagome's in hand. A handsome young man with four slender blue marks on his face ran into the clearing, naked sword in hand.

"Bounty Hunter." Sesshomiru growled. He ran at the unsuspecting man as Inuyasha cradled the bag he stole. Hands in the bounty Hunters cloak, Sessho yelled straight into his face. " Where is my mate?" When the man did not answer, he yelled again. "Where?" His hands gripped tighter.

"I don't know who or what you're talking about." The hunter said coolly. "Now, if you'll please place me back on the ground..." Sesshomiru had not even realized he had lifted the man off his feet. "...I need to retrieve my bag." He pointed at Inuyasha as Sesshomiru placed him back on his own two feet.

Inuyasha now rocked back and forth, still cradling the bag. "Raman...raman..." He whined. Shippo went to poke the bag and Inuyasha grabbed his arm, snarled and glared at him.

Slowly, **very** slowly, the hunter advanced on Inuyasha. "My known name is Shadow Blade, and if you'll give me my bag..." He said slowly as he lunged at the last word. Inuyasha backed up, bag in one hand, Shippo in the other. "...Give me my bag" Shadow Blade said, normal now, "I'll give you all the raman in the bag."

Inuyasha's eye's lit up. At the sound of "All the raman in the bag" he gladly handed the bag to the man.

Shadow Blade turned to face Kagome. "You and your friends may call me..." he trailed off as Inuyasha tugged on his pant leg, whimpering. Blade reached into his bag and pulled out one pack of raman. Dangling it over the half demons head, he continued. "Rain."

"What? It's not raining." Kagome said, confused. He laughed.

"No." He said, handing the pack to Inuyasha. "You may call me Rain."

They all laughed at Inuyasha as he ate the packet of raman (wrapper and all), as a shadow watched from the tree. Ankha had come back to find they were talking to a Bounty Hunter. She could tell who he was by his clothes. After all, she had fought and killed many already. She felt betrayed. As the Bounty Hunter left, she realized she had not memorized his face so that she could kill him later, if ever she met him again, for she had never seen it.

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Disclaimer : We don't own any characters of Inuyasha.

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_B.B.- "I own people later in the story..."_

_Inuyasha - "Who?"_

_Kagome - "**SIT!**"_

_Inuyasha - (after getting up) "What'd you do that for, Kagome!"_

_Kagome - "You interrupted."_

_B.B.- "May I continue?" (Glaring at Inuyasha. Vain, vain)_

_Inuyasha - (Scared) "Y...Y...yes."_

_B.B.- "Thank you."(Clears Throat) "Writing Woman owns Ankha and Rain." (Bows) " Thank you for reading our story."_

_Inuyasha - "Who do you own?"_

_B.B.- "I'm not telling."_

_Inuyasha - "Tell me."_

_B.B.- (whispers in his ear)_

_Inuyasha - "Ha- ha! She.."_

_Kagome - (warningly) "Inuyasha..."_

_Inuyasha - (looks at Kagome) "Owns..."_

_Kagome - "SIT!" (Crash!)_

_W.W.- "While he's unconscious, do you want to..."_

_B.B.- (finishing W.W.'s sentence with her) "...Sew his mouth shut? Sure!"_

_W.W. + B.B.- (evilly walking to Inuyasha with sewing kit in hand) "Read and Review!" (Evil laugh)_

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A few minutes after the Bounty Hunter left, Ankha ran back to the little river at full speed. She sat, drinking the water. 'Why should I feel so offended?' she thought. 'I've only known them a few days. I have no claim to what they do or don't do.' Still, she decided to stay the night there, until the dew washed away the hunter's scent.

So she stayed next to the river, finding peace as always in it's soothing noise. Occasionally, she napped. On one of the rare occasions that she slept, a certain little fox came to her. Hearing her hiss, and seeing she was asleep, Shippo laid down next to her and fell asleep himself beside the cat demon. Ankha rolled over in her sleep and held Shippo as if he were her kitten. For the first time in years, she slept peacefully. When she awoke, however, he was gone. 'That's weird.' She thought. 'I could have sworn...' Ankha looked around and shrugged. She walked back to the camp before dawn.

A week passed, with minor confrontations between them all. Mostly the 'arguments' were between Ankha and the half breed, the dog, and the lecher. Anyway, they all lived through it.

Ankha had gone to drink from the steam when she awoke, again before dawn. It was a habit. When she arrived back at camp, she saw Kagome, Miroku, Inuyasha and a oddly dressed woman with a very large boomerang. Where was Shippo? Ankha had begun to think that the hunter had come back to get him, when Shippo and Sesshomiru walked into camp.

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_B.B.- "It's 10:30 pm. Tomorrow, Writing Woman will take over."_

_Shippo - (Puppy dog eyes) "Why?"_

_B.B.- "Because I'm fresh out of ideas."_

_Shippo - "Why?"_

_B.B.- "Because I've been writing all day."_

_Shippo - "Why?"_

_B.B.- "So people can read it."_

_Shippo - "Why?"_

_B.B. - "..."_

_Shippo - "Why?"_

_B.B.- (Lifts eyebrow)_

_Shippo - "Why?"_

_B.B.- "I must really be tired."_

_Shippo - "Why?"_

_B.B.- "I'm making you say "Why?" a lot."_

_Shippo - "Why?"_

_B.B.- (Looks at reader) "R+R"_

_Shippo - "Why?_"

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_W.W.- "You're all in my power now! Hear your doom approaching (on purple dinosaur feet)!_"

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Shippo and Sesshomiru had next town, and had gone on. Still, with Inuyasha and three guests, they had needed been back to town to get more ramen. Rain had left what he had, saying he could get more in the ore. Overnight, their group had gained a member. Sango was back!

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_W.W.- "Where had she gone?"_

_B.B.- "I don't know. She just walked out one day."_

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And since Sango was back, Miroku was drooling. Ankha was still lingering in the shadows, watching the friends' reunion, and felt very out of place. She melted into the darkness under the trees, to see but not be seen.

It didn't work too well. Shippo looked around for her, and saw her move to slap at a bug. He ran over and tugged on her arm, pulling her to where the others were. Sango looked up. She knew every one else, but this woman was new. Shippo introduced them.

"Sango, this is Ankha. She's funny. Ankha, this is Sango. She beats up Miroku a lot."

Ankha lifted an eyebrow. "Sounds about right." Sango smiled at the cat demon and said "He asked you too?"

"I have a feeling that he asks everybody."

"He does."

"Does he always drool that much?"

"Yes." Sango laughed. Ankha said good bye and turned to Shippo.

"Shippo, I wish you had left me be. I don't like being around lots of people." He nodded. "Now, tell Kagome I'll get something fresh to go with dinner, and I'll even get something for Inuyasha this time." Shippo ran off on his errand, and Ankha disappeared again. Sango walked back to Kagome.

"Kagome?"

"Yes?"

"What is she?"

"A cat demon."

"No, I mean the stripes on her face. What is she?" Kagome said nothing and looked

away. "Kagome, tell me!"

"She's a sixth level assassin." She never looked at Sango.

"You know I'm as good as a bounty hunter! What is she doing here?"

Kagome smirked. "She helps me keep Inuyasha in line. She's really quite nice."

"How do you know?"

"She's been here a week, Sango, and there's something about her..."

Inuyasha broke through the trees yelling, "Raman! Raman!" he was attacking Sesshomiru. Then ,realizing he wasn't going to get it from Sessho, he ran to attack Shippo. "Raman!"

"Ankha! Help!" Shippo screamed. Inuyasha was gaining on him fast. "Raman!"

A song came from a tree. Inuyasha went blank faced, eyes glazed over. Ankha jumped from the tree. Picking up Shippo, she said "Sit, boy." He did, panting. "You, little man, are now a rooster." Shippo laughed as Inuyasha stood, folded his arms like wings, and pecked the ground, scratching around and making chicken sounds.

Sango looked on in shock. "How?"

"Her assassin name is Black Lullaby. Her song can bend you to do her will... or kill you."

Sango watched as Inuyasha leaped from the ground into a tree.

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_B.B.- "I'm going to leave this next part to WritingWoman!" (Evil laugh)_

_W.W.- "That's not how I would have wrote it myself, but good enough." (Wink)_

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Ankha sang him into the tree, higher and higher to the very top, thirty feet above ground. Inuyasha leaped from his perch into the air. Ankha stopped singing.

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_B.B.- "Well?"_

_W.W.- "Well what?"_

_B.B.- "How would you have written it?"_

_W.W.- "I would have had her think to attack him, start to, after appearing as fast as lighting in response to the cry. But instead of attacking, she stops, for fear that she would hit the child. Then make him think he's a turkey."_

_B.B.- "Rooster."_

_W.W.- "Rooster, right."_

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As soon as she stopped, Inuyasha came to his senses. He tried to go back into the tree, but, seeing as it was about five feet away, this was out of the range of hard and into impossible. So he did the only thing he could do. He held up a sign that said 'Mommy!' and fell.

Crash! Into the dirt, face first. After a minute or two, he climbed out of the dog demon shaped hole, into a camp full of people rolling on the ground with laughter. All except for Ankha. She merely glared at him as she stood protectively in front of the laughing Shippo.

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_Inuyasha - "I still haven't gotten all the dirt out of my ears."_

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"So" ha-ha "That's how she" hee-hee "Helps keep Inuyasha" hee-ha "In line!" Said Sango when she had enough air to. Miroku helped her up. She put a hand on his shoulder to steady herself during another bout of laughter. Realizing what she had done, she quickly removed her hand, and blushed.

"Kagome, I found another way to make him sit." Said Ankha, casually. Shippo laughed harder.

"Hmpf." Inuyasha huffed away to nurse his wounded pride. During the rest of the evening, while Sango told her tales and the news of what had happened while she was gone, he sat alone, plotting revenge against Ankha. The cat demon herself just sat in her customary place by the fire, listening. Soon, however, she tuned out the friendly chatter and just sat there thinking, drinking in the warm night.

Sessho watched her from across the fire. Being an assassin, retired or not, and a demon, he had very good instincts. And these finely tuned instincts were telling him that she was a person to watch, for trouble followed in her footsteps.

Unaware of his scrutiny, Ankha got up, stretched, and headed for bed. Tonight she would sleep on the ground, she decided. She hadn't done so in a long time. She curled up in her cloak and slept.

After hearing her purr softly, he went to her side. Placing a hand on her head, his efforts were rewarded with ten long metal claws in his right arm.

Not opening her eyes at all, Ankha spoke. "I don't think so, dog." She removed her claws and shifted into a more comfortable position for true sleep.

Having yelped, everyone was looking at him. Guessing what their questions were, he said, "I wanted her past."


	3. Rain, Again?

_**Rain, Again?**_

In the morning, no one talked of the incident the night before. They were all curious, but knew by now to keep away from that subject. Ankha clammed up and walked away when it was talked about. If some one questioned her, she gave them the cold shoulder, even if the someone was Shippo. They packed up camp and walked to the next town.

When they came within sight of the town, Ankha held back.

"What's wrong?" Asked Kagome.

"If you all are going in there, you don't want to be seen with me. I'll go in a little later, and meet you at sunset on the other side." The rest agreed. At first, Shippo wanted to go with her, but was persuaded otherwise.

The trip was to be a simple one, to get food and any information that they could on shards. Ankha's shard still resided about her neck, in a little bottle.

She waited about twenty minutes after they had gone in, then went in herself. She garnered a few stares, for having her hood pulled so far over her face, but not nearly as many as she would have gotten in the red marks had been visible. But Sessho was right. Trouble followed in her footsteps. Or, in this case, walked in front of her.

Ooof! The lady in front of Ankha stopped abruptly. Her elbow connected with assassin's stomach, hard. The cat demon automatically moved into a fighting crouch, whipping the sight impairing hood off her head. And everyone saw her marks.

The lady turned to apologize, and screamed instead. "Assassin!" She yelled.

All of a sudden, the men sprouted pitchforks and torches, the women magick-ed up frying pans. 'What the hell!' Ankha thought. 'Do they carry these in their pockets?' As she stood there, stupefied, one man poked her with his pitchfork and said,

"Excuse me, miss, but you're supposed to run now." Ankha took off. She ran fast enough that all she appeared to be was a black blur. Right past Inuyasha and the group she ran, and the mob after her.

"Um. Did anyone else see what I saw?" Inuyasha asked.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Kagome muttered to Songo. Inuyasha, who was fast himself, had just barely gotten a glimpse of Ankha's face. She had been laughing. He relayed this message to them. Looking at each other, they yelped then took off themselves.

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A cloud of dust came at him from down the road. Well, not at him, he was sitting under a tree near the side, off to the left, really, and

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_Rain - "Does it matter? I was lounging under a tree near the road. That's it. Ok?"_

_B.B.- "Fine, fine..."_

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The cloud of dust came closer, a black figure in the middle of it. As it passed him, he heard laughter. After it, came a mob. Among the shouting, he heard (besides expletives) the word "Assassin!" 'Could it be?' He wondered. He watched them disappear down the road. The dust made him sneeze.

Sesshomiru and Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo came down the road. Songo had tripped and twisted her ankle, and Miroku had 'generously' volunteered to stay behind with her in the village until she could walk again. They had no doubt that when they saw the pair again, his face would be swollen and puffy.

Hearing the sneeze, Sessho stopped and looked at the shadowy shape beneath the trees. As Inuyasha ran by, the demon grabbed the half breed.

"Urk!" Inuyasha tried to struggle out of Sessho's death grip. When the others caught up, he dropped his brother and pointed at the shadow. "That person is familiar. Who is it?"

The shadow stood.

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_B.B.- "There's a lot of shadows here."_

_W.W.- "Shush!"_

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'It' turned out to be Rain. Kagome greeted the handsome young man warmly. They had gotten along well when they had first met. Needless to say, he and Inuyasha didn't. It wasn't any different this time. Rain greeted them all, then turned to Sesshomiru.

"A week or so after I left you, I met a person that nearly matched the description of your mate." Sessho's ears pricked up. "Tell me, tell me! Where is she?" The dog demon said. Rain leaned casually against a tree.

"Now, hold on there, I don't know if it was her." Sesshomiru wanted to shake the man, for being so slow, but unconscious men don't speak too well. "The name was right, Loeyla, but the description was wrong. This woman was half fox, half wolf."

Sessho shook his head. "No, no, Loeyla's all fox, no wolf."

"Well, this woman had silver hair near the top of her head, and brown at the bottom. Half wolf, half fox. I asked her where she was headed and she said 'Mykoto.'"

Sessho ran, calling over his shoulder, "I have to see for myself!" And the trip to Mykoto was a long trip indeed. And yet, um, back to the story. So, he'll be gone for a while. But, we have to get back to the story, because if we don't, it won't get finished, and if it doesn't get finished, then

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_Everybody - "Get on with it already!"_

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They watched him go. "Well." Rain turned to the three that were left. "Is he always like that?"

"Only when it comes to Loeyla." Sango sighed. "I wish I had a man like that."Sango felt someone touching her butt. "Miroku..."

"Yes, Sango?" Sango then force fed him her elbow. He lay sprawled on the ground, twitching. Rain laughed. Then he turned to Kagome.

"Hey, can I travel with you all? I'm looking for somebody and people tend to talk more when you have a group behind you."

"Sure! Who are you looking for?"

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_W.W.- "Never object when a hot guy says he wants to spend more time with you."_

_B.B.- "What if he's a asswhole?"_

_W.W.- "Where ear plugs and just stare at his face. Or imagine him in boxers..."_

_Kagome - "Oh, please, he's just a friend."_

_W.W.- "Sure, Kagome, sure..._"

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"I'm not telling. They have a $3,000,000 bounty on their head, the person I'm looking for."

"Wow." That was a lot of money. "Whoever it is must have done something really bad."

"Yep." Kagome knew it would be a while till Ankha came back, so she decided it was time to set up camp. With one of their people wanted by the town, they weren't going to spend the night there. She was envious of Sango and Miroku, who got to sleep in real beds.

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Ankha sat in the tree, watching the towns people beat half heartedly on the bushes, looking for her. She recalled how they had ran after her. As if they ever could have caught her.

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_Rain - "If you knew they would never catch you, why'd you run?"_

_Ankha - "'Never underestimate stupid people in large groups.' I also needed the exercise. And while it was highly unlikely that they would catch me, I don't take chances."_

_Rain - (looks knowingly at her) "Yes, you do."_

_Ankha - (scowls) "Shut up, Ligerrain."_

_Rain - (grins and winks) "Oh yes, your Majesty."_

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She watched them leave, stumbling tiredly back home. She shifted her heavy cloak and climbed out of the tree. Ankha looked up at the mighty pine and smiled. Trees really were wonderful things. She walked in the woods, enjoying the solitude. Coming up on camp, she decided she wasn't quite ready to go back yet. Swerving, she delved farther into the woods. Meeting Shippo, who had been gathering firewood, she asked him where a stream was. He pointed, and she said that's where he could find her, and each went their separate ways.

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Disclaimer - We don't own Inuyasha and them. WritingWoman owns Ankha and Rain, and BlondBitch owns Loeyla. Wow, writing these things are boring. The disclaimers, not the story. R+R.

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	4. When Opposites Meet

_**When Opposites Meet**_

Rain started into the forest, thirsty, looking for the river described to him by Kagome. He had been walking for about five minutes, wondering just where this river was supposed to be, when he heard the most beautiful voice, singing about the rain. It was an old song, a child's song, one Rain had learned once himself. But he had never heard it sung like this. New lines had been added to the simple harvest song. There was some humming, and in the pauses, it seemed to him that he could actually hear the small pitter patter of a gentle summers rain. He forgot his thirst, and set out to find the source of the music.

Ankha kneeled by the stream, listening to the water flow over the stones. She loved this sound, so natural, so free. In the distant mist of memory , a simple child's song came forth. Soon, she was singing it, adding twists that matched the melody of the river. Behind her, she heard a twig snap. Swiftly, she rose, ready to do battle. Or so she thought.

"Please, don't stop sing . . . " More beautiful eyes he had never seen. They were the color of the sun on a beautiful day, and so deep...

He stood in shadow, so she couldn't see him that well, except for his eyes. His eyes were the same shade of blue as the river, light near the edges, growing deeper and darker as they neared the pupil. She was held captive as she delved farther and farther into them...

A crashing noise came from the right, from the direction of camp. Ankha broke eye contact, startled at the sound. As she turned her head, her hair moved from her face, revealing the red marks that defined her as an assassin. And what's more, a demon assassin. Rain gasped.

"No!" He said, horrified. It couldn't be! It just couldn't!

Shippo came tumbling out of the bushes yelling.

"Ankha! Ankha! Inuyasha's after me! He's trying to hit me and I didn't even do anything!" He jumped into her lap, knowing that there was safety there. At least, for him. He couldn't wait to see what Ankha would do to Inuyasha this time! Last time, she had made him believe he was a rooster. It was only funny until she made him 'fly' out of a tree. Then it was hilarious! (_Have you ever seen a half dog demon try to fly out of a thirty foot tree? I must recommend it, it's quite a sight!_)

Rain shook his head, denying the plain truth. This was her. This was the demon he had been sent to kill. Ankhale Suneye, The Black Lullaby.

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Ankha petted Shippo's head, calming him, then remembered their audience. She looked up, into that face, but the light had changed. She could see the four slashes of blue. 'A Bounty Hunter.' She thought, and felt betrayed somehow, let down. But she got no more than a glance at him before Inuyasha himself, as promised, came through the same way Shippo had. Only Inuyasha landed on his face, not his feet. He lay there for a moment, twitching. Well, he did until he heard Shippo's high pitched giggle of glee. Inuyasha looked up at the three, and tried to yell a very bad word at Shippo, but it was slightly hard for him to do that with a mouthful of dirt.

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_Inuyasha - "Hey, how come I have to be the idiot that everyone laughs at?"_

_W.W.- "Because I'm the narrator, and I said so."_

_Rain - "But why a rooster?" (Mumbles) "I wish I could have seen that."_

_W.W.- "Can you think of anything else?_"

_Rain - "Well, you could go with the extremely original idea of a giant purple dinosaur."_

_W.W.- "Hmm..."_

_Inuyasha - (sweat bead) "This isn't looking to good! Please, somebody, talk some sense into her! NO PURPLE DINOSAURS!"_

_Rain - "Well, she could"_

_Inuyasha - "Anybody but you, Rain."_

_W.W.- "Shut up, you two! This is B.B. and my story, we'll tell it as we please! And Inuyasha, if I say you have to walk around in boxers with mouse ears on your head, singing 'Yankee Doodle', you will!"_

_Inuyasha - "**HELP!**"_

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_W.W.- "Hmm..."_

_B.B.- "Hmm... What?"_

_W.W.- "Actually, the boxers idea sounds pretty good."_

_B.B.- "Hmm..." (Look at each other, have a good evil laugh)_

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Ankha smiled at Shippo's laughter.

"Inuyasha, I swear," She said. "You have to be more human than demon to be so clumsy!"

Inuyasha growled. "Give me that little monster! He's been driving me mad with his questions! 'Why is the sky blue?'" Inuyasha mimicked in a high voice. "'Why are there clouds?' 'What are they made out of?' 'Why is the grass green?' He just won't stop!" Ankha turned to Shippo. She winked so only Shippo could see it, telling him to play along.

"Shippo, is this true? Are you trying to drive him mad?"

Inuyasha looked smug. The twerp was finally going to get what he deserved!

Shamefacedly, Shippo lowered his head, effectively hiding the glitter in his eye. "Yes, Ankha."

"Good Boy!" Ankha tossed him up in the air. Inuyasha's jaw dropped to the ground and he fell over with a thunk.

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_Inuyasha - "And why am I always falling?"_

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He jumped up immediately and shouted "'Good Boy!' How could you say that? How is driving me insane good?"

Shippo looked up innocently. "Well, if this is how you are sane, insane can't be that much worse, can it? You don't have much farther to go."

Inuyasha screamed and charged at the too innocent Shippo. Ankha stood and pushed the foxling behind her. She lengthened her pointer claw to about five inches in length and pointed it at Inuyasha.

"I'd stop if I were you." She said in a quiet, deadly voice. "If you don't, you'll be

fighting me with a hole in your chest."

Immediately, he stopped. Ankha's keen ears picked up a slight sound to her left. The very soft but very distinctive sound of a sword being pulled from it's sheath. Inuyasha heard also. He looked and straightened. Rain had pulled his sword from it's sheath on his back.

"Hello, Shadow-Knife, or whatever your name is - Rain, that's it - What are you doing here? I thought you were still talking with Kagome." He noticed the sword. "What's up?"

Rain ignored Inuyasha. "Are you the Black Lullaby?" She stared at him, shields in her eyes, glaring him down.

"I've never been anyone else. Who are you, Bounty Hunter?" She spat out the last two words. Not giving him time to answer, she turned to Inuyasha. "You know this man?"

"Yeah, sort of. He's a friend of Kagome's, in a way. He's staying with us for a while. Says he's looking for somebody, but won't say who."

"Who?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"You." Rain replied. "My name is Ligerrain Melhas, the Shadow Blade."

"Blah, blah, blah. Overly dramatic you are. Are you here to fight? You'll lose." She turned, yet again cutting him off. "Inuyasha, take Shippo back to camp. I don't want this idiot accidentally hurting him." Shippo spoke up.

"I don't want to be alone with him!"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." She sang a little and Inuyasha's eyes glazed over. "I suggest you run when you're within sight of camp. He'll be back to himself at that point." Shippo smiled. Ankha smiled back, completely revealing her white fangs. "Run along now, Shippo. This shouldn't take too long."

Shocked, Rain looked at her. "Are you so confident? Or stupid?"

She looked at him contemptuously. "Let's just say this, Bounty Hunter." She stopped to put up her hair to keep it out of her way. Once it was safely tucked into a ponytail, she continued. "Everything you've heard about my fighting skill, everything, is true, maybe a bit understated. And you really think you can beat me?" She came closer.

He stood his ground. "Yes."

Ankha grinned a very cat-caught-the-canary-grin. "Fight me then, and feel your defeat!" She lengthened all her claws, this time only extending them to three inches or so in length. It shouldn't take too much to beat this guy, amazing blue eyes or not.

Swiftly, faster than he could block, she attacked him. All along his bounty hunter marks, she cut him. He only felt it when she returned to her original spot.

"Do you still think you can beat me?" Inside she said, 'Why didn't I kill him? I could have. But I only marked him. Why?'

"Yes." 'Why did she only mark me? As a warning?' Yes, that must be it. He had a surprise for her, though. He didn't need a warning. He would win.

"Barricade!" He yelled, and outlined a box around the cat demon. She stared at him like he had gone crazy.

"Why are you waving your hands around and shouting? You should be praying for your life." She tried attacking again, but found she couldn't! Claws out, she had run at him, but was rebounded by an unseen force. She staggered a little, but did not fall. Curiously, she scratched at the thing holding her. She tapped it, banged on the roof of it, and found its bottom under a thin layer of dirt. 'Ah.' She thought. 'A box.'

Rain laughed. "Beat that, you–"

She interrupted him. "Can you hear me?"

Startled, he answered without thinking. "Yes."

"Short answer person, huh?" She muttered, to keep him confused. "Do you think this puny box will keep you from losing?" She saw the expression on his face. "Don't answer. It'll just be another yes. Don't you ever get tired of hearing yourself say that? I've only known you maybe ten minutes, and already I'm tired of it." 'It's good thing he can hear me through this stupid box' she thought. 'Since I can't use a physical attack, I'll just use my alternative.' She started to sing.

"Oh . . . no . . . " Already, he was becoming drowsy. His box became weaker and weaker until Ankha could step through easily. She shook her head at him. "Next time, Hunter, learn your Bounty before you try to kill it, and never go after one higher ranked than you." The last thing he saw was the amber eyes of Ankhale, and then, the blackness came.

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Disclaimer: Ok, I don't own anybody in this story with the exceptions of Ankhale and Ligerrain. They I own. Everyone else, well, yeah. OK.

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_Rain_ _- "Or he could be a giant yellow bird..."_

_Inuyasha - "NO!"_

_W.W.- "Yeah, we already used the bird thing. Remember the rooster?"_

_Rain - "Oh, yeah. Hmm. A monkey?"_

_Kagome - "Yes! A monkey!"_

_Inuyasha - "Why am I getting picked on?"_

_Rain - "Because."_

_W.W.- "Because."_

_B.B.-_ "_Because."_

_Kagome - "Because."_

_Sessho - "Because."_

_Ankha - "Because."_

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_B.B - "You should pick on someone else soon. It is kind of mean."_

_W.W. - (whining) "But he's perfect to pick on."_

_B.B.- "What about Rain?"_

_W.W.- "Hmm . . . " (looks at B.B.) " Did you notice that we 'Hmm' a lot?"_

_B.B.- "Hmm..."_

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_W.W.- "Boxers..." (Sigh)_

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It had been noon at the time of the fight. When Rain woke up, it was early evening. Still groggy, he stumbled to camp, following the smell of food. 'Ramen.' He thought. He walked into the camp, and saw Kagome making food, with Inuyasha nearby, impatiently waiting for food. Shippo would poke him and run a bit away, knowing Inuyasha would not stray far from the food. Ankha was nowhere to be seen. Rain was curious as to where she was, but he was much more hungry than curious. He sat next to Inuyasha. Shippo came and talked at him.

"She beat you, huh?" Stiffly, Rain nodded. "Yep, just like she said she would. She doesn't lie, you know. After she beat you, she came back and answered all my questions. The sky is blue because it's full of water for rain. Clouds transport the rain from the sky to where it falls. They're made of fuzz. The grass is green because at night, little men come and paint it that way. Tonight, she said she'll stay up with me so we can catch one of them..." He went on and on and on.

Eventually, Rain just tuned him out, but not after hearing more. Paint? She had also told him the sun was a hollow hunk of gold lit by a huge fire inside of it. Gold in the earth happens when a bit of the sun falls off. The moon was a pearl lit by star fire. The little ball of fox believed it all!

Ankha watched Rain scan the area again. The fool. He never looked up. Not once. Just like he didn't think of sound reaching through the box. He turned to talk to Inuyasha, ignoring Shippo, who chattered on.

"Inuyasha, where is the cat demon? You seemed to know her."

"She's traveling with us." Briefly, Inuyasha took his attention from the food. "She has been for a while."

"And you don't take the bounty for her?"

"No. Kagome and the cat have sort of become friends."

"Sort of?"

"You're starting to remind me of the brat, Rain. All the questions."

"But they're valid questions." Inuyasha blinked a moment. Then he sighed and answered.

"They're only sort of friends because Ankha doesn't really talk to anyone. She goes off on her own a lot. The only one she hasn't fought with or made a fool out of is the kid."

"What's this about your group being smaller?"

"After Sango sprained her ankle during the mob chase, Miroku and her stayed behind at the

village to let it heal in comfort. They'll be back soon, and as soon as they catch up, we'll leave."

"And the Dark Fox?"

"She left a long time ago, with her mate, Kurama. As soon as she saw Loeyla didn't need her anymore, she left."

"What do you know about the cat-demon?"

"She's a mean ass bitch." Startled, Rain looked away from Shippo, who had been trying to climb a tree. Since he looked away, he didn't see the hand that reached down and grabbed the foxling.

"What do you mean?"

"That woman's evil, man. She beat you, me, everybody. And she has a thing for making me look like an idiot."

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_Inuyasha - "Well, she does!"_

_Ankha - (sweet voice) "Only because you're so good at it."_

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"Ah." Said Rain, wisely deciding not to go on.

"JERONIMO!" A ball of fur landed-SMACK!- on Rain's head.

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_Rain - "ME!"_

_W.W. - "Yes, you. I decided to give Inuyasha a break."_

_Inuyasha - "Yes!"_

_B.B.- "You should be thanking her, not jumping around like someone put a ice cube down your shorts." (Inuyasha sits down, red faced.)_

_Inuyasha - "Thanks." (Mumble)_

_W.W.- "What's that?"_

_Inuyasha - "Nothing..."_

_W.W. - "Hmm..."_

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Ankha nearly fell out of the tree with laughter. Rain lay flat out on the ground, little stars dancing around his head. The whole camp was stunned, excepting Shippo, who was laughing just as hard as Ankha. Still laughing, she jumped out of her tree and scooped up Shippo, tossing him high into the air.

The camp was stunned yet again at the sight of the cat demon laughing. They had never seen her do more than smile, or chuckle slightly. Never laugh. But here she was, laughing with all her being. It was an infectious laugh, inviting all who heard to join in. And all those in the camp did.

Rain came to with laughter all around him. It was pleasant until he remembered that all the laughter was at him. He got up as fast as his spinning head would allow him. He saw Ankha tossing Shippo around, and knew who had given him the painful lump his hand found on his head.

"What was that for!" He yelled.

Catching her breath, Ankha said, "We're practicing to catch little men. You were the perfect target. Very unsuspecting."

"I can't believe you did that!"

"Why not?" She asked, puzzled. "You don't know me well enough to have an opinion of what is in or out of character for me."

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_W.W.- "Boxers..."_

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"That's just it! I'm a stranger and you treat me like that!"

"Pph. You think that's bad? You should've seen what I did to these people. Man, you really need to relax a little." She said. Then she smelled something. "Food's done!" Inuyasha raced over to the pot, his immensely huge bowl in hand. Everyone followed, and Kagome dished out the food.. Slowly, Rain left off his glaring and went to eat.

Ankha didn't really feel like raman, a feeling that intensified as she saw Inuyasha start to eat. She headed off back to the river to get something better.

Shippo watched her go away. 'Something's wrong.' He thought. 'She always says goodbye

before she leaves. She always tells me where she's going so that I can find her if I need her.

Kagome also noticed the cat leaving, but it wasn't unusual for Ankha to go off on her own. If there was a chance for something fresh, she'd take it. Cooked, of course. So she merely put more wood on the fire to keep it hot enough.

It was nearly dark when Ankha came back. She had had her own fire in the woods to cook the fish she had caught. But she had promised Shippo to stay up with him to catch a little man, so she resisted the call of the forest and went back to camp to sleep. She scanned the trees, and quickly found the easiest one to sleep on. She didn't like to sleep on the ground every night, and tonight, she felt like the tree. Shippo bunked underneath the branches, and both settled down to wait.

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_Rain - "Actually, now I'm kind of tired." (Yawns)_

_Everybody else -"Me, too." (Yawns)_

_W.W.- "Wake me up for the next chapter._"

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	5. Scary Sleeping

_**Scary Sleeping**_

Shippo had fallen asleep long before Ankha had. In the morning she would have to tell him that she had fallen asleep before the little men came. She reflected on her time with this group while she waited for sleep to come. She thought about her fights, victories, and talks with them. She mused on how Rain's coming could affect all that. 'Oh well.' She said to herself. 'If it gets to be so that I can't stay because of him, than I'll leave.' But as she told herself this, she realized that she didn't want to go. On these thoughts she slept, and it was an uneasy slumber.

The dream came again.

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_W.W.- "For those of you with weak stomachs, please skip this next part, or puke on something besides the computer. Thank you._

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It started out like it always did, pleasantly. She was sitting on a cart in the warm sun, slightly squished between her parents. She looked up at her mother, and smiled. Her mother smiled back. The cart was full of goods, for her father was a merchant. This was her first trip with them. Always before she had been left with the nanny. She was being extremely good, so that this wouldn't be her last trip as well.

A man stood in the middle of the road. Her father stopped, thinking the man needed a ride. They were trusting folk, Ankha's parents. Grateful for the stop, Ankha's mother hopped out of the cart to stretch. Ankha ran to answer nature's call in the bushes, out of sight from the road. And then, the dream darkens.

Men now jump from the trees all along the road and grab her mother.

"Daughter!" She yelled, "Hide!" A big man covers her mouth with his hand. Though she tried to bite him, it was to no avail. He simply cursed and stuck her for every bite he received. Terrified, Ankha hid under a large dense bush, that hid her from sight but did not hide the events that occurred. She watched as her beautiful mother's face became swollen and purple from the bruises.

Her father lengthened his claws and attacked the man holding his wife. More men came, the road swarming with them, and fought him off. The mother tried to defend herself but her arms were held at such an angle that if she extended her own claws, she would kill herself. Soon, the two were tied up, and the goods gone. Ankha herself was too scared to move.

A man, obviously the leader, walks toward the bound cat demons. He knelt down and spoke quietly with them. Ankha could not hear what he was saying, but it horrified them enough that they started struggling again and tried to scream through their gags. He turned, and motioned to his men. They went to work.

The little five-year-old cat demon watched on in horror as her parents were mutilated alive, the men removing all traces of their differences, all the things that proclaimed their proud demon heritage. Their eyes were gouged out, tails ripped from their bodies, claws and fangs extracted with extreme slowness, and the ears sliced off their heads. Finally, the two full-grown cat demons bled to death on that isolated road, not knowing the fate of the most precious thing in their lives, their daughter. The men cut the heads off, and left the bodies to rot. As soon as they are out of sight, Ankha ran down to where the bodies of her parents lay, once so full of life, now maimed and dead.

Ankha awoke in the tree, hissing, panicked, and grief ridden. The smell of her parents blood filled her nostrils yet again. It was nearly dawn. She jumped from her tree and ran into the woods, as far and as fast as she could, trying to escape her fears. She didn't realize she had a pursuer.

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_Inuyasha - "Oh."_

_Kagome - "Is that really how your parents died, Ankha?"_

_Ankha - (Quietly) "Yes." (Shippo jumps into her lap and hugs her.) "I wish the narrators had left that part out." (Glare)_

_W.W.-"It's part of your story. It needed to be told."_

_Rain - "It's over now, Ankha. You closed that chapter of your life."_

_B.B- "Let's move on."_

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It wasn't hard to follow her. When he lost sight of her, the cat demons path was obvious enough to him, even in the dark. Rain was her pursuer.

He hadn't slept well that night. Shippo's whispering to Ankha kept him awake. That had stopped and he had started to drift off, when he heard a low purring noise.

It had been Ankha. Soon, though, the noise had turned from the pleasant purr to little whimpers, and finally hisses and small screams. Then when she had run off, he had followed. He saw flashes in the night, so it was plain that all her claws were out. It was proven by all the shredded greenery and the giant chunks taken out of the trees. He stared a moment at a three inch deep, one inch wide gouge. Then he went on.

Ankha stopped on an open hill top. She sank to her knees, overcome with all the memories. Her parents gruesome death. Her master of seven years' death. All the people she had ever killed. Their faces swam in her minds' eye, bogging down thought and reason. A high keening noise rose from her throat. She grieved, not for the people she had killed, not for her master, no, they had all deserved their deaths. But her parents...

She should have saved them, or at least have tried! No, she had cowered in the bushes, afraid.

The keening noise was cut off abruptly. She was back in control of her own thoughts now. She thought on her parents a moment, imagined what her life would of been like if they had lived. But dreams were just that, dreams. After every dream she had the same thoughts, completed the same ritual. Ever since she could remember, even back when she was trapped in that tiny dank room every night, it had been this ritual that kept her going, kept her whole. She was carrying through a family tradition, for the mourning of the dead, the tradition of singing the souls to rest. She opened her mouth and poured out her sorrow. The song was supposed to be a cleansing thing, to help her move on. But she couldn't move on, not yet, not until she had had her revenge. It was her promise.

Rain was crying. Not loudly, not openly, but silently weeping, so sad had been her song. It reminded him of all that was lost to him as well. He didn't know what she had lost to make her so sad. He hadn't even known she was sad. Hateful, angry at the world, maybe, but not sad. He followed her again, on the way back to camp. Which, of course, was stupid.

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_Rain - "Am I really that stupid?"_

_Ankha - "Only because you're so young. It makes you naive, not stupid."_

_Rain - (muttering) "Know it all demons, think they're all that just because they're so old..." (Ankha smiles)_

_W.W.- "Everybody, you'll learn more about the Master later. Hint, he's evil."_

_B.B.- "Shut up! You'll ruin it!" _

_W.W.- "No I won't–"_

_Inuyasha - (interrupting) "Have we all been forgotten about? We're still here, you know!"_

_W.W. - "Inuyasha..."(comes closer, pinches ear and whispers in it) "Purple dinosaurs_."

_Inuyasha - (Gulp) "I mean, uh, take your time, ha-ha, we can wait." (Pulls on collar)_

_W.W. -(smiles evilly)_

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It 'of course' was stupid because even in the dark, Ankha could see the footprints that didn't belong to her all along her destructive trail: Where the being had stepped, ran, walked, hopped over logs . . . All of it. The thing about footprints is, you can't tell who left them. Since she got back to camp before Rain, however, she could guess. The assassin sank into the shadows, and waited.

She had waited for almost ten minutes, thinking 'How could anyone be this slow?' When Rain finally showed up. She pounced, knocking the wind out of him. Ankha covered his mouth with her hand, and dragged him off into the bushes.

"How DARE you follow me!" She hissed. "I went away to be alone. A blind fool could have seen that!" She removed her hand.

"I'm sorry."

"Well, you're going to be a hell of a lot sorrier you rotting pile of–"

"No, I'm sorry for whatever it is that you lost. It must have been something very important to you." Ankha looked at him for a minute. She let him sit up (she had pinned him down) and standing up, she turned away.

"It was." She said. "They were."

"Who?" Ankha sat back down.

"My parents. They were murdered when I was very young." When she looked up, their eye's collided and for the first time since they had first met, Rain saw the numerous shields down. He saw clearly the pain in her eyes, and wondered how she could be an assassin when the murders of her parents obviously hurt her so much. There was just no end to the mystery that was her. Unnerved by this new revelation of her, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"I never knew my parents. My adoptive father found me abandoned by the roadside. They used to be Bounty Hunters themselves, until they married. Then they quit to become simple farmers, not wanting to die at a young age and leave a grieving spouse behind."

"Are they both still alive? Your adoptive parents?"

"Yeah."

Angrily, she spat, "Then you haven't lost anything. If they didn't want you enough to keep you, then your real parents couldn't of been that great, and you even had a better set to take you in."

"But I don't know anything. Who they were, what they looked like, what they did for a living, family traditions, nothing." He wasn't angry at her. That surprised Ankha. She was used to bad reactions, and so could deal much better with anger then sympathy. She was silent a moment. Uncomfortable with the silence, Rain said "Well, if your parents died–"

"Were murdered."

"Were murdered, sorry, who raised you?" Ankha glared at him. She stood yet again.

"It doesn't matter." She said in a warning tone. "He's dead too."

He should have listened. Still curious, though, he asked "How did he die?"

Ankha looked over her shoulder as she walked back to her tree. Matter of factly, with a hint of satisfaction, she said "I killed him." And left. Only then did Rain feel the lock of hair drift down from where Ankha had cut it off, right next to his eye. He gulped. He hadn't even seen her move.


	6. Candy Is Dandy

_**Candy is Dandy**_

_Disclaimer: Neither of us own Inuyasha. W.W. owns Ankhale Suneye and Ligerrain Melhas. _

_Ankha - "Melhas. What a name."_

_Rain - "Oh, yeah, 'Suneye'. You have room to talk."_

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In the morning, it was obvious that Ankha was avoiding Rain, while he continually stared thoughtfully at her or into space. It was even evident to Inuyasha that something was up between the two.

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_Inuyasha - "What's that supposed to mean!"_

_W.W.- "Oh, nothing, nothing..."_

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Rain had much to think on. The more answers he got from Ankha, the more questions he wanted to ask. Who had raised her, why had she killed him, and what had made her decide to become an assassin?

Ankha had her own questions. How could she have opened up even that little bit? She had one goal: Revenge. People and friends just complicated things. She had figured this out long ago. But, wait; What about after revenge had been achieved? What then? She had never thought about it before. She shoved the unwelcome thought out of her head. What would happen after would happen. First and foremost came revenge.

A bit more than a month passed as they waited for the missing pair to come back. The cat demon wondered why humans took so long to heal. She had been mean to Rain until it was apparent to her that he didn't take her seriously, that he was still sympathetic. So she ignored him. He didn't question her about her past again. Then, one day...

Ankha heard a noise, interrupting the story she had been telling Shippo. She looked up the road and her eye's widened. Miroku? Sango? Was Sango fatter? ARE THEY HOLDING HANDS!

Shippo yelled to them. "Hi! Can we go now?"

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"You did what?"

Calmly Sango sat in front of the fire, soaking in warmth, ignoring the bewildered Kagome. Then she said,

"We got married. A month ago." She placed her hand in the equally calm Miroku's grip. "And I haven't even told you all my news yet."

Ankha spoke from her place around the fire. "You're pregnant." She said with certainty.

Sango looked startled. "Y-yes. How did you know? I'm barely showing."

"You're happy. Very happy. Marrying a lecherous monk couldn't of made you that happy, so you must be pregnant." Sango laughed as Miroku protested.

"Hey, I'm not lecherous anymore, I'm married."

"You can change a leopard's name but not his spots."

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_Miroku - "Still a little confused over that one." _

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"Stop bickering, you two!" Said an overjoyed Kagome. "We must celebrate! I've been saving this for a special occasion." She dug in her bag and pulled out... CANDY! Lots and lots of it! Chocolate bars, Sugar Daddies, Candy Canes, and Malted Milk Balls. Mouth watering, delicious

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_B.B.- "Ah-hem?"_

_W.W.- "Sorry. I have a candy craving."_

_B.B.- "And?"_

_W.W.- (sourly) "We can get back the story now."_

_B.B.- "Thank you. R + R, readers!_

_W.W.- (whispers) "Send candy!"_

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Shippo was thrilled. "Candy!" He said, and started to grab at it and stuff it in his mouth.

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_W.W.- "Lots of candy."_

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Kagome handed a chocolate bar to Ankha. Tentatively, the cat demon nibbled on the corner. Her eyes widened in surprise. It was _good!_

Sango and Miroku had been introduced to Rain before their unsettling announcements. Now, as they laughed at the candy greedy Shippo, he watched Ankha out of the corner of his eye. He watched as she tried a bigger bite and then, slowly chewed it, her eyes closed, savoring the taste. If he strained his ears, he could hear her purring faintly.

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_B.B.- (Purr, purr, purr)_

_W.W.- "What are you purring about?"_

_B.B.- (purr, smile, close eyes, purr)_

_W.W.- (looking in B.B.'s hand, yelling) "Chocolate!"_

_B.B.-(hiss) "Mine!"_

_W.W.- "Gimmie!...Ow, she bit me!"_

_B.B.- "Hands off!"_

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_W.W.- "You don't purr, stupid. That's me."_

_B.B.- "Why not?"_

_W.W.- "Dogs don't purr."_

_B.B.- "Oh."_

_Miroku - "Ladies, can you please get back to the story?" (Touches their butts)_

_B.B. + W.W. -"Ahh!" (Slap, slap)_

_Miroku - (thunk. Lays sprawled on ground)_

_B.B.- "Oh, no! It was an accident!"_

_W.W.- (Sniffs) "Good riddance to bad rubbish, as they say."_

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_W.W.- "Truck loads of candy and hot guys in boxers."_

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Rain walked over to where Ankha sat with the chocolate. Quietly, he sat beside her and said "May I have a piece?"

Startled, Ankha looked up. She had concentrated so much on the chocolate, she hadn't noticed him. Meeting his eyes, she glared and asked "Why? You can get your own, can't you?"

"But if I don't like it, the whole bar would be wasted." Unable to think of a reason to waste heaven, shuddering at the thoughteven, she grudgingly handed a piece to him. He brushed her hand slightly as he took the candy. Ankha yanked her hand back as if it had been burned. Rain pretended not to notice.

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_W.W.- "Briefs are good too."_

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Rain popped the chocolate into his mouth. He let it melt on his tongue, rather than chewing it. 'Oh, my!' It was good!

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_B.B.- "Speedos?"_

_W.W.- "SPEEDOS!"_

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He went and got his own bar. Ankha thought that now he would leave her alone, but he didn't. He came back. And not only that, but he sat down. Songo saw him wrestle the chocolate from Shippo, and walk towards the cat demon again. She nudged Miroku and slyly indicated the pair. The monk smiled and grabbed her hand.

Ankha was uncomfortable. He was sitting way too close! If she moved her leg one bit, even just a centimeter, it would touch his. But she was enjoying her chocolate too much to move. Besides, she had sat here first. So there. An uneasy silence settled over them, as the small party went on, Inuyasha and Shippo fighting over candy, Kagome talking to the newlyweds, Miroku and Sango themselves exchanging long, loving looks.

Her candy bar finished, Ankha quickly jumped up and went to congratulateSango and Miroku

"I'd like you to have this." From within the depths of her cloak, she produced a large bag tied with a gold chain that had an odd charm on it. Inside the bag was a large amount of gold coins. "You'll need it to raise a baby." She said when they tried to give it back.

"What does this charm mean?" Asked Sango, after she had thanked the cat many times for her gifts. It was a good question, for it was an odd symbol. Take a cross, and mix it with an upside down tear drop at high speed and you'll get something like it.

"It's an Ankh." She replied. "It means 'Eternal life'. I chose my name from it. If ever you need me when I'm not around, whisper my name to it. The matching one I wear," she pulled it out "will start to heat, and I'll come as fast as possible." They thanked her again. Ankha felt embarrassed by their gratitude, so much so that the tips of her ears, normally white, turned red. Then Rain came up to give his gift. It was a tradition, but since none of them had anything really baby-ish to give, the just gave whatever they could. Rain's gift was a beautifully crafted dagger, eight inches long, double edged, a gilded hilt, and a small ruby in the pommel. Inuyasha was going to give them Shippo, but the foxling bit his hand and scampered out of reach. Kagome gave them

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_W.W.- "CANDY!"_

_B.B.- "Fine, candy."_

_W.W.- "YAY!"_

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candy. It was all that she could give. After all, none of them had gone baby shopping. Candy's good, though.

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_B.B.- "Ok, shut up about the candy now. The story needs to continue." (Evil laugh) "And it's my turn."_

_W.W.- (Unaware of the danger she had just put the readers in) "One last thing. Boxers + Briefs + Speedos It's all good."_

_B.B.- (Grabbing for note book) "Mine, MINE!"_

_W.W.- "Fine!" (Tosses story) "Go get it." (Twirls finger next to head)_

_B.B._- _"I saw that."_

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A twig snapped, and everyone turned, as a man in a baboon pelt walked in from the shadows.

"Naraku!" Growled Inuyasha.

"Settle, mutt." Naraku shifted his pelt. "Ankha, your–"

"Who are you? Who gave you permission to use my name?" Ankha asked, her voice full of attitude and anger. How dare this man speak to her in such a manner! "I am the Black Lullaby." Rudeness called for rudeness.

"Your parents–" Naraku was cut off again by the cat demon.

"What of my parents? They're dead."

Becoming very annoyed, he said "Sako." Ankha tried to ask what he said, but could not. "As I was saying, your parents were killed by men hired by a fox demon." He then ended the spell on Ankha.

"Who are you?" Ankha repeated as he walked away. "Bastard." She said under her

breath. They then heard a small voice call out. "Lord Sesshomiru? Where are you?"

"Over here, Rin." Sessho answered in a low voice.

A small girl that couldn't be older than Shippo came from the woods. "There you are, my lord. You were gone a long time."

"Rin, I want you to follow Naraku."

"Yes, my lord." Came the cheery reply, as she turned on a dime to follow the great demon, Naraku.

"She's only a child!" yelled Sango. "And you sent her on such a dangerous quest! Who do you think you are?"

"I know her. She can handle herself."

"Yeah." Came a voice.

"Inuyasha!" Screamed Sango.

Miroku leaned closer to her ear. "Did he just defend his brother?" A bit of amusement and alarm in the monks voice. "Prepare for the apocalypse!" Sango looked in shock at Inuyasha.

"What are you staring at?" He asked Sango, looking around. "Uh, not to alarm anyone, but the cat is gone."

"WHAT!" Yelled Rain, looking to either side of him, searching for the assassin. 'Where could she have gone?'

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_W.W.- "Where are you going with this?"_

_B.B.- "...Nope."_

_W.W.- "What do you mean, 'nope'?"_

_B.B.- "Not telling."_

_W.W.- "Fine." (Walks away)_

_B.B.- "(whispering to you) "I don't know where I'm going with this... really."_

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_B.B.- (In a British accent) "There's a bloody scene coming up."_

_W.W.- "When?"_

_B.B.- "Right bloody now! Get off my back!... No, really, get off my back, you're really heavy."_

_W.W.- "Awwww..."_

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Ankha ran, smelling the air for any fox demons. Finally, she caught a scent.

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_Ankha - "You're making me sound like a dog."_

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"I'll kill every last fox!" she hissed. She continued running, following the scent. She ran into a clearing that smelled intensely of fox. The fire pit was still smoking. "I just missed it." She muttered to herself.

"Missed what?" A woman with black hair and blue eyes walked from the woods, smelling completely fox.

"Who are you?" Fully alert, Ankha turned.

A funnel appeared behind the human woman. "I am Talabinya Karlaya." Seeing the woman step back into the swirling clouds as the sky grew dark spooked Ankha.

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_Ankha - "Did not!"_

_B.B.- "Yes, you were."_

_Ankha - "No, I was NOT!"_

_B.B.- "You were shaking like a leaf."_

_Ankha - "I was cold." (Hugging self) "Brrr. Cold."_

_B.B.- "Sure..."_

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Lightning struck the side of the cloud and a scream and the stench of fox emerged. The funnel disappeared to reveal an animal in the shape of a fox with nine tails. It had a black coat, but it's tails and ears were tipped in silver.

Ankha lengthened her claws in preparation and watched as the fox quickly scaled a tree and flipped off it. Ankha thought the fox had gone insane, but when the creature landed, it showed itself to be a black fox/human. She had a human body and head, but she also had fox ears, fangs and tails, the tails and ears still tipped with silver. Her eyes, once a deep blue, had turned into a light blue etched in silver.

"I'm going to kill you, fox." Hissed Ankha.

"What for, cat?" Growled Talabinya with surprise. "Why would you want to fight me, the Dark Fox, mate to Kurama, the Spirit Fox?"

"You had men kill my parents." Ankha clinked her metal claws together, then ran full speed at the fox woman. She was much faster than Talabinya. The cat demons claws sliced into Talabinya's neck, and blood sprayed out, covering Ankha with the blood of her enemy.

It didn't take long for the fox to lie in a puddle of her own blood, her lungs pleading for air. "You will die as slowly as my parents did."

A laugh rang through the trees. "I've tricked you into killing my daughter, The Dark Fox." Said Naraku. Unseen, Rin ran back to Sesshomiru.

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"I still don't understand why you released Naraku." Kagome was saying.

Rin ran into their midst, yelling. "My lord, my lord, I bring terrible news! Lady Talabinya has been killed!"

"WHAT!" Everyone was shocked to hear of the death of Sesshomiru's mother-in-law. "I'll kill Naraku for this."

"It was not Naraku." Ankha walked in from the forest, covered in blood. She looked at her feet. "I killed your mate's mother. But–"

"I'll kill you." Everyone turned to see a Third Level Bounty Hunter standing behind them.

"Friend of yours, Rain?" Inuyasha asked nastily.

Rain saw a gold band on the Hunters left ring finger. "What are you doing here, third class? You should be at home with your wife."

"I have no wife." Was the husky reply, tinted with laughter.

"No wife?" Rain took up the other Hunter's hand and showed off the ring. "It looks as though you have a wife."

Casting aside the cloak, they saw that this hunter was, in fact, a woman. "I have no wife." she repeated firmly.

"I'm sorry." Rain said sheepishly. Lower level or not, rudeness was still rude.

"Who are you?" Surprised by such a familiar voice, everyone turned, to see Talabinya.

"A traveler." Was the husky reply.

"Is it not your job to catch assassin's with bounties on their heads?" The fox demon now stood in front of the Hunter.

"Yes." Came the short answer.

"Than where were you, when I was attacked?"

"I was finishing up doing the things necessary to become a Third Level Bounty Hunter." Was there a sound of hurt in the hunter's voice? "I had skipped the second level and went straight to third." Was that a tear rolling down her face?

"Oh." Talabinya started to walk away from the Bounty Hunter, not knowing the hunter

was someone very close to her heart.

"I am the half breed." The voice stopped Talabinya from leaving. "But you may call me Loeyla or... Daughter." Sesshomiru looked at his mate in surprise.

"Loeyla?" Sesshomiru asked, not sure of what he had heard.

"Yes, my love, it is me." Loeyla now moved her hair from her face to show her extraordinary violet eyes.

"Why do you call yourself half breed?" He said while hugging his mate. She closed her

eyes, glad to be enfolded once again in his love.

"I found a way to make myself half fox, half wolf."

"I told you she could handle herself." Kagome said with a smirk.

Loeyla's eyes opened to see Shippo and a giant pile of candy. Quickly she broke free of Sessho to dig through the pile. Finding what she wanted she screamed "BUTTER FINGER!" It was huge, about two feet long and half a foot wide.

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_B.B- "Sorry, my mom just pulled out a bag of mini fun-sized butter fingers." (Starts to cry)_

_W.W.- (Alarmed) "What are you crying about?"_

_B.B.- "My mom won't let me have any."_

_W.W.- "Your mom's a bitch."_

_Inuyasha - "She's not a bitch until she takes away your ramen."_

_B.B.- "She doesn't buy raman anymore."_

_Inuyasha - "Your mom's a bitch."_

_B.B.- "I know. (Pauses, looks around) "Sorry, I'll get back to the story."_

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"What's the celebration?" Loeyla asked with her candy bar halfway in her mouth.

"Sango and Miroku got married." Sessho laughed.

"That's good." Still trying to shove the candy into her mouth, she continued "Now he won't be such a lech."

"Sango's pregnant, too!" Exclaimed Kagome. Loeyla choked. "Pregnant?" Sango and Miroku looked at one another lovingly. "I guess you finally found someone to bear your children, Miroku." Loeyla finished her Butter Finger and sat in front of Sango. Formally, she said "At this great occasion of learning, Sango the Demon Slayer, I present to you a charm of good health." This she gave to Sango now. "And protection for you and your unborn child. And to you, Monk Miroku, I give a spell of sleep to cast upon yourself on restless nights." She handed Miroku the piece of paper. "And the promise that I will stay with you until childbirth." Then she whispered to him, "She'll have many mood swings and unnatural cravings."

"Thank you!" They both exclaimed, Sango over the gifts, Miroku over the information.

"Have you given any thought to a midwife?" When they looked at her oddly, she sighed. "You must look into the future. This child shall be birthed in the spring. You need to schedule a midwife."

Miroku looked at Sango. "She's right, you know. Monks often end up acting as

midwives, but we're not the best."

"It's mostly monks, but an occasional Bounty Hunter has had to act as a midwife." Rain confirmed. "I had to myself once." Miroku looked at him questioningly. "NO. I'm never doing that again."

"It's improper for a man to be in a room with a woman giving birth, anyway." Everyone looked back at Loeyla. "Many men faint during the birthing process. It's too much for their systems." She looked away. "I met a few women who had to have Monks deliver their babies. Half said that the monk fainted, the others said he was fine or he vomited shortly after or during. Yeah, sure they can sprinkle holy water on them and bless them right there in the labor room. But that's only if he's woke up, or finishes vomiting to return to your bedside." Everyone was surprised to hear how much Loeyla knew on the subject. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, if fact you said everything right. Sango, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so." Sango turned to Loeyla. "I would be honored, Loeyla, if you would be my midwife."

Shocked by this twist, yet delighted at the same time, Loeyla replied "It would be my honor." Then, remembering that she didn't know how to birth a baby, she said "I'll need to go to the Bone Eater's Well, Kagome."

"Why?"

"I need to talk to a doctor."

"What for? Are you sick?"

"No, I'm not sick."

"Then why do you need to talk to a doctor?"

"Because I don't know how to be a midwife." Everyone fell (anime style). Kagome was the first up. "Let's go, then."

"Why so soon?" Sessho was holding Loeyla protectively.

"Because..." With some difficulty Loeyla got free. "It takes nine months to train to be a good midwife. How close are we to the Well, Kagome?"

"Very close." Kagome walked over to the edge of the clearing. She moved some vines to show another clearing and the Well.

"Wow." Everyone became wide eyed. "How'd you know?"

"I saw it a while back." She said. "Stop staring. Loeyla, let's go."

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_B.B_._- "That's it."_

_Loeyla - "That's what?"_

_B.B.- "I'm pooped."_

_W.W.- "Is it my story now?"_

_B.B.- (Holds notebook protectively) "It's our story._ _You just get to write some more."_

_W.W.- "Give it here!" (Grabs story away.)_

_B.B.- (breaks down crying) "My baby, my baby, be careful with my baby!"_

_W.W.- "Okay." (Rolls her eyes) "Whatever."_

_B.B.- (hysterical) "Don't roll your eyes at me! You be careful with my baby, or I'll, I'll"_

_W.W.- "You'll what?"_

_B.B.- "I'll kill you!"_

_W.W.- "How?" (Not believing her)_

_B.B.- "I'll gouge your eyes out and rip out your spine."_

_W.W.- (Sweat bead) "Okay, okay." (Holds story like a baby)_

_B.B.- "Aw, it's sleeping."_

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	7. Kidnapping In Progress, Please Hold

_**Kidnaping in Progress, Please Hold.**_

_W.W.- "Yeah, right, like she could kill me. And I have a few questions to ask now that you aren't about to have a mental breakdown, B.B. What the hell happened to my character? She just hanging out in the shadows or what? Why did Talabinya and Loeyla ignore Ankha? She'd nearly killed the mother! How could Loeyla's own mother and mate not recognize her? And what happens with Naraku?"_

_B.B.- "You write it! I'm done, damn it!"_

_W.W.- (smirks)_

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The nine months passed. While Naraku was still on the loose, and Ankha still hunted for her parents killers, the cat demon and the foxes made friends. Taking them, and only them, aside one day, she explained as loosely as she could. She didn't mention how they had died, only that they had been murdered in front of her. Ankha asked for their forgiveness, something she hadn't done her entire adult life. She was amazed when they gave it.

Ankha's list of revenge grew longer. Now she was after Naraku as well.

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_W.W.- "Everyone's after Naraku."_

_B.B.- "Well, he's an asshole."_

_W.W.- "I know, I know. I was just remarking on it."_

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Soon, it was spring. Ankha had been disappearing for longer and longer times, weeks, even, as the winter passed. She stayed, however, when Sango's birthing time approached. BABIES!

Loeyla's training was finished, and Sango's time had come. Nervous though she was, the Bounty Hunter performed her task flawlessly. It was a girl. During her nine moody months, Sango had chosen name if it had been a boy, and a name for a girl. So, they were ready, and the baby was named Tayallay (Tay-UH-lay), or Tay, for short. Ankha hovered around the baby while Loeyla took care of the new mother. She looked up at Ankha, who was cuddling and purring at the baby.

"You're going to spoil that child before it can even walk."

"And have much fun in doing it." The cat demon chuckled. She looked around. "Where's the monk? He needs to bless this beautiful new baby girl." Loeyla looked amused.

"He's outside, scared stiff." Ankha laid the baby in her crib and went to get him, saying as she went, "Well, at least he's not puking or unconscious. Scared, I can handle."

She walked out of the hut and found Kagome closest to the door. All others had been shooed out back when the birth began. She asked her where she could find Miroku, and followed the human's directions. She found him hyperventilating next to a pond. Coaxing him back was hard but possible. As they neared the hut, screams were heard. Sprinting, she left the monk in the dust as she ran inside to see what the commotion was about. Taking a quick survey, she noticed one thing immediately. The baby was gone!

"What the hell happened? Where is Tayallay? Tell me!" She grabbed Loeyla. "What happened?"

Fighting free of the crazed assassin's grip, Loeyla hurriedly explained. "Naraku appeared, grabbed the baby, said something, and left. There was nothing I could do!" Screaming like a mountain lion, Ankha raced outside, shoving aside the demons and human waiting there. She ran off into the night.

Almost immediately, she came back. She had a bundle in her arms, a bundle covered in dirt.

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_W.W.- "Now, I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. Read on."_

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Quickly, she shook the dirt off and unrolled the bundle. Inside was a great variety of items. As the people looked on, baffled, she took the blanket that had held everything together and ran up to the hut with it. As she ran past the fire, they could see it shimmering, as if alive. The group followed her inside, the usually calm cat demon's panic shocking them out of their own frenzy.

Ankha laid the quilt on top of the grieving mother, and Songo went directly into a deep sleep. The symbols woven into the material glowed brighter until a bluish glow encased the woman on the bed. Rain gasped. Turning, Kagome asked him what was wrong. He spoke, stammering a little.

"That's a Mirage Blanket. You see that blue glow? Soon, it will cover the whole house, hiding it from all malevolent eyes. That thing is terribly hard to find and extremely valuable. The blanket is practically a legend among Bounty Hunters."

"But Naraku is strong. He'll break the spell."

"It can't be broken unless the placer decides it should be. That's part of what makes it so famous. It can't be broken by anything else." They resumed watching the cat demon.

Searching through her things, Ankha found what she had been looking for. She gestured

for them to gather around her. As soon as they got close, she showed them what she had.

A map, with several strange markings on it, and a thin black object. She spoke.

"No one can stay with Sango." She held up a hand to Miroku's protests. "Naraku would sense your presence and know where she was." Ankha turned to Rain. "And you were only half right. That quilt will also form a certain, well, shield, for lack of a better term. If anyone walks into the house, they will be immediately transported to the other side, into the woods.

"Now, as to the objects before me. As you all know, I am an assassin." Calm now, in charge, she spoke about her profession as if it was of no matter. She waited for their nods. "This map is how I find my targets. I take something of the person I need to find, and after a short ritual, his location appears on the map." Sessho nodded. He had heard of these things, but had never gotten one for himself. They had stopped being made long before he had joined the business. Maybe another day he would ask how she had gotten one. But Ankha had continued.

"This black cloth is really Naraku's hair. So convinced of his strength, he has been careless during these past months. It didn't take much to gather enough for this." She took a small jar from the recesses of her cloak and smeared some of the bitter smelling jell inside it onto the cloth. Quickly, moving with the sureness of long practice, she lit the cloth on fire with a stick of incense. It made Rain slightly ill to see how efficiently she did this, made him think on how many times she must have done it.

Ankha traced symbols with the stick of incense over the quickly burning cloth. Each time an ember hit a new bit of jell, the symbol flared brightly then faded. When it was done burning, she sprinkled the ashes of the incense and the material on the yellowed paper of the map. She lifted the paper to her face and she gently blew them off. As they watched, a bit of ash stuck to a place far from where they were, a day's journey, perhaps. Ankha pointed to the spot and said "There. We'll find him and the child there."

"How do you know that the child will be with him?" Sessho asked. She turned to him.

"I know. Did anyone hear what he said when he left?" Loeyla had heard him.

"He said 'Here, kitty, kitty.'" Ankha's eye twitched with irritation.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all."

"So, he knows about me asking around for him." She grinned in a frightening manner. "He'll be expecting us. Let's not keep him waiting." She rolled up the map and, putting it in her cloak with the jar, she turned to look at the slowly bluing house.

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_Rain - "Man, that's a nice cloak. What else do you have in there?" _

_Ankha - "Stuff."_

_Rain - "Stuff? Just 'Stuff'?"_

_Ankha - (glaring at him meaningfully) "**STUFF.** Now leave me alone. You don't need to know what's in here."_

_Rain - "Do you have the kitchen sink?" (Rain hits the ground after Ankha thumped him on the head. She walks away, tail swishing.)_

_Ankha - "Stuff, Rain.** Just** stuff"_

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Ankha muttered something and drew more symbols in the air. Gathering her other objects, she tucked them away in her cloak, all except for a small pouch, which she tied within easy reach. Seeing the question in their eyes, she carefully put her hand inside. Gingerly she withdrew an item. It was a tiny dagger, no bigger than a pinky nail, with a green tip. Loeyla's eyes grew large.

"Poison." She growled.

"Yes. Extremely poisonous daggers." She whispered to it and it obediently lengthened, the green disappearing. "It can stretch into a thin sword." She shank it back. "It took me years to learn to throw these. It's a lost art, really. I'm the only one who knows how to use them to their optimum anymore. The man who taught me died."

Uneasily, Inuyasha wondered just how the man had died. After carefully, almost lovingly, putting the dagger back, she closed the bag and turned to them. "Let's go." Ankha scooped up Shippo and carried him as they ran. As they neared their destination, they ran into Sesshomiru's faithful servant, Rin. She was sleeping in a little nest of grass. When awoken and questioned, she did not know of Naraku's absence. Sessho sent her away on a meaningless errand. Then they considered what they beheld before them.

It was a skull. A skull that led into the mountain. From it's size, it had once belonged to a dragon demon. Rain felt as if he should know something about this, but couldn't put his finger on it. Shrugging, he put the thought in the back of his mind. Ankha gestured that they should sit down. Swiftly, they did, and so did she, after scanning the area.

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_B.B- "Where are you going with this? Hmm?"_

_W.W.- "Into the mountain, dumb ass! As if that isn't perfectly obvious."_

_B.B.- "Oops, sorry, blond moment."_

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"There doesn't appear to be anyone guarding the entrance." Ankha said. "I'll walk up and see if any spells are on the place." Slowly, she crept out of her hiding place, wishing she could take the time to see if there was another entrance not so obvious. She might of, if it had just been her, but it's not. Besides, this was revenge, not to mention a rescue.

Quickly, looking more like a shadow than anything else, she approached the skull. Nimbly, she leapt over the front bottom teeth and entered the darkness.

It took Rain a few minutes to realize that she wasn't going to come back out again.

"That woman! She's going after Naraku alone! She'll die! He'll rip her apart!"

"Good riddance." Mumbled Inuyasha, but that was all he got out before Rain started to strangle him.

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_B.B.- "That's all folks!" (Waits for your response) "Now, wait a minute, don't get mad."_

_W.W.- "Let me help!"_

_B.B.- "Fine."_

_W.W.- "Keep an eye out for another story by B.B. and me. That shall be the next stage in our little story."_

_B.B.- " 'k, folk, R+R! Until we finish_

'_**TOTAL CONTROL',**_

_(that's the next book), hear the dreaded words... 'To be continued.'_

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End file.
